Adjustable price indicator



11m 3o, 1931. I I J, @KAS 1,812,159

ADJUSTABIJE PRICE INDICATOR Fi1d March 14, 195o INVENTOR 70H11/ a wr/45.

BMA/@4K6 ATTORNEYS Patented June 30, 1931` j JOHN G- LKA'S, QF BAYONNE.mw JERSEY; f

` AnJUsrnBLErnIn -`INDICATOR Application mamarchie., 1930;seria1N0.435,7o'1.; f` l This invention relatestlo an indicating de!vice and relates Vmore particularly to a device for indicating. vtheprices of merchandise vwhen positioned upon shelves for storageandlishments. Y l

ItV is anf object of the present invention from neat andsynnnetrical l,6) display. j 1 Y k therefore to provideA a simple andneat ap-y er Itis the practicein sales rooms and es-f vpearing marking device `whichmay be readpecially inl sales rooms Where `package arilyV adjustedin Yaccordance` with price -ticlesfsuchasgroceries,lare sold,.to providechanges. 5 t Q' rows. of shelves toy support packages of mery Anotherobject ofthe invention is y'to profy 10 chandisef -diiierent kinds andbrands and vide a price Aindicating unitattachableto a en to so positionthe merchandis'eas toklbe exhibited.v For'fexample, a package vof a'givenk brand ofy merchandise `Will be positioned for f display with anumberv of packages of the 'n 15 same brand in the rearfonthe shelf., K

' For the purpose of convenience orthe salesman or hisassistantsvasqwell .as toin-Q form the purchaser, it-is the practice topro- "r2 vide each groupof packages with a price tag. 30 A tag with aparticularprieejslseeured to the shelf in `fronty *of` each rbrand of 'agiveng article.vv `rPrice tags lasiheretofore employed` were l providedin. sets and it was bbviously necessary-for .the'storekeeper to/provi'dehimif, self Awith `a .number, of setslof tags bearing numerals from 1 tolzero, certain of the; 1111-,

meralsbeing repeated -forjthe purpose of obiV taining the ydesirednumber Yof combinations ofA numbers to indicate differentgiven,prices(`v7.30 On the .othery hand. a great number loi tags may be providedeachfbearinga diferentlpri'ce which latter, practice fentailedydi-iiculties finf arrangement'l and assortment .owing to the greatvarietyiofdierent priced articles to be tagged. The above method ofmarking "or tagging articles paused considerable vinconvenience andloss` ottime,

f' [nv stores, suchV as'fchain stores, where theA manager is'responsible vfor any ,error thatj may occur, it is encumbent upon him toper? sonally'apply'i the tags tothearticles' and inas-f' mu'oh asthepric'es change fr'e'cpuentlythe op-c eration of changingprices'takesan apprecia- 45 given to'otherfmore profitableduties..`

`vFurthermore theylbe'come'soiled and wom and unless fremem innig. 2. l

' ble amount of valuable time' which mightv bei the use" of individualtags Y necessitates personal handling; whereupon v'on shelves.k y. v e

' `As,illustrated theinventioncomprises an elongated troughshapedfcasing 10, shaped 4to'j shelf adjacent to merchandise 4to kbemarked. l

'Another object of theinvention is to provide fanadjustablegpriceindicator in com- Anotherobject'of the inventionis to pro.i 'v

vide a .combined shelf edge and 4.price indicator VVfad-j ustableshelfg' Other objectsand advantages of the inven-r 1:' tion lWill 'beevident jfrom` the yfollovving'de# seriptionftogether with theaccompa'nying l'f raiwilflgs;in whichy l l ,i Figfl is a frontelevationalview showing faportionof` a section of` shelves: .with the@present inventionapplied thereto. f able character rFig'.l 2. is` adetailf iew. of mov Without removaljfrom the bearing members formingpart ofthe ypresentI -I adjustable l price indicating device.

4Fig.;3r is, an enlarged view ken on Figa is a Viewyofvoneofjthelmovable bers shown in lFig.` 2;

e ',...Fig 511s@ viewgof a modi-ne ehstruainj showinga portion of thepriceindicating 4devicejwithan attachmentfor adding numerals,

thereto, and

Fig: mishavievvtaken ,onl V lthough: the present invention may havevarious applications Wherever itis desired toA provide a deviceforquicklya'nd conveniently changing character combinations, theselected e embodiment of'theinvention illustrates-fthe 1 same asap-plied-forwindi'cating'v the pieces ofjA lerchandise such as p ackageelgoodsdisplayed ing 10 may be of a length suliicient t-o extend betweenpartitions 13. The partitions 13 are generally spaced about three feetapart and a casing 1() may be so constructed as to eX- tend from. onepartition to another and may be secured by suitable means wood screws 14to the shelves. The casings may have plain facing surfaces or may beornamented desired to give a pleasing and symmetrical appearance.

Each casing may be supplied with one or more windows 15 through whichcharacters indicating pieces may be exposed, the number of windows willdepend upon the number of groups of articles between partitions.

As more clearly shown in Fig. 3 t-he casing 10 consists of a front wallor face plate 16 having flanges 17 and 18 which may tensionally engagethe lower and upper surfaces of a shelf so that the edge 11 of the shelfin conjunction with the front wall 16 of the casing provides acompartment 19 to receive what may be termed slidable character bearingmembers. or strips 21 and 22. These strips are preferably made of sheetmetalY and strip 21 which is the front or forward strip is provided witha reversely bent edge 23 to provide a guide slot 24 for an edge 25 ofthe rear strip 22. This rear strip is also provided with a reverselybent edge 25 `to provide a guide slot 26 to receive an edge 27 of theforward strip 21. The forward strip 21 is provided with numerals 28 fromone to zero of a suitable` size and disposed in spaced relation adistance substantially the same as the width of a numeral and betweeneach numeral an aperture 30 is provided, preferably of rectangular formto expose numerals 31 on the rear strip 22 which numerals are disposedin close relation and include from one to zero.

The strips 21 and 22 are slidablein their respective guide slots and maybe adjusted wi th. respect to each other so that a numeral on the strip22 may be exposed through an.

aperture on the strip 21 and a number will thus appear as an integerwith two digits..

Thus any combination ofV digits may be had and the window 15 is soproportioned as to expose a combination of digits as per example anumber with two digits when the prices are to be expressed in thefraction of a dollar.

Means for moving the strips relative to each other and to the casing maycomprise lugs or linger pieces 33 and 34 on strips 21 and 22respectively. The finger pieces may project through slots 35 and 3.6 andthe strips may be easily and quickly moved to change the exposedpricefto one containing a different combination of digits.

The numbers or other characters used may be embossed or printed on thestrips and as will be evident from the drawings the strip 22 is offsetat 37 to provide clearance and avoid mechanical abrasion between thesurface of the strip 22 bearing the characters and the rear side of thestrip 21. The casing 10 is so formed as to provide upper and lowertracks 38 and 39 so that the strips individua-lly or as a whole mayslide in the casing and bearing surfaces 40 and 41 prevent thecharacters on the strip 21 from rubbing against the surface of thecasing.

Jhon using the present device above described it may be desirable to addto the adjustable figures or pieces by supplying descriptive charactersas for instance if the price is .25 it may be necessary to add 2 for, orafter .25 it *may be necessary to add 1X2 cent. The present inventioncontemplates the addition of such characters by providing a detachableplate 43 (see Figs. 5 and 6) which may be of slate or other marka'blematerial. This plate may be held by overslapping ears 44 punched fromthe casing wall or the wall adjacent to the window may have a permanentmarkable surface to be written upon with chalk or pencil.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the present price indicatorprovides a time saving addition to stores or sales rooms wheremerchandise exhibited is subject to fluctuations in price.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and describedherein it will be understood that modification may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the appended claims.

Vhat is claimed is:

1. A combined shelf edging and indicating device for a shelf extendingbetween partitions comprising a face plate of substantially the samewidth as ,the shelf edge, means for attaching the face plate in spacedrelation to the shelf edge, said face plate having a window, a forwardand a rea-r character bearing strip disposed in slidable relationbetween said face plate and said shelf edge; characters in close spacedrelation. onsaid rear strip and characters on said forward strip spacedfrom each other byaperturesvtoexpose characters on said rear strip; saidstrip being adjustable to expose different combinations of charactersVthrough said window.

2. A combined shelf edging and indicating device` for a shelf extendingbetween partitions comprising a face plate of substantially the samewidth as the shelf edge, means for attaching the face plate in spacedrelation to the shelf edge, said face plate having a window, a forwardand a rear character bearing strip disposed in slidable relation betweensaid face plate and said shelf edge; characters in close spaced relationon said rear strip, characters on said forward strip spaced from eachother by apertures to expose characters on said rear strip; said stripbeing adjustable to expose different combinations of characters throughsaid window and extensions l0 y said plate and the shelf edge,characters in close spaced relationon saidrear strip and l characters onsaid forward strip spaced from on said strips for adjusting the same tovary the exposed combination of characters. f 3'. A combined shelfedging and indicating device comprising a A faceplate of substanf L ytially the same width as the shelf edge to present a smooth.-symmetrical appearance,

' means for securing the plate in spaced. rela# -tion to said shelfedge, said plate having a window, forward and rear characterfbearingstrips disposed in slidable relation between each other by apertures toexpose characters on the rear strip. f

4. A combined shelfedging and indicating y device comprising a faceplate of substantially the same width as the shelf edge to' present asmooth 4 symmetrical appearance,

means for securing the platefin 'spaced rela.- y tion to said shelfedge, said plate: havinga window, forward and rear character bearingstrips disposed in slidable relation between lsaid plate and the shelfedge, characters in close spaced relation on. said rear strip and"characters on said yforward strip spaced from each other by apertures toexpose characters on therear strip and finger pieces on said strip foradjustment to vary the exposed combination of characters.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

' JOHN G. LUKAs.V

